Getting Out Of Gitmo
As much as I enjoy motion pictures, I haven't found the opportunity to get out to a theater since I saw The Eye back at the beginning of February. I finally did get around to hitting the movie theater this afternoon to check out Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay, and I might as well share my thoughts regarding it.
I really liked Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, so I naturally assumed I'd enjoy the sequel as well. But the truth of the matter is that I'm on the fence about it. There's some funny parts, and Neil Patrick Harris's extended cameo is awesome, but other than that, the movie is adequate at best.
A lot of people noted a quite subtle social commentary about race relations in the original Harold & Kumar movie. And in Escape From Guantanamo Bay, they ditch the subtlety and practically beat you over the head with the comedic social commentary. The main antagonist in the movie is both incredibly racist and stupid as all hell, and they practically come out and say that the doofuses running the country are making every other American look bad. Like I said when I spoke about The Tripper, I'm not really into movies that wear the political snark right out there on their sleeve. I guess I'm saying that I appreciate subtlety more. Admittedly, some of the humor does work, but the rest? Meh. Seriously, did we really need the cheesy cameo by a George W. Bush facsimile, or the cheap deus ex machina that results from said cheesy cameo?
Ultimately, the handful of truly entertaining moments weren't enough to sustain it for a two-hour running length. Had they trimmed the fat and cut the movie down to about 90 or 95 minutes, then the movie probably would have been better. There were a few scenes - Harold and Kumar encountering the inbred son of an affluent redneck couple, then a group of Klansmen led by Christopher Meloni from Law & Order: SVU; the movie's primary antagonist interrogating Harold and Kumar's Jewish friends by taunting them with a pouch full of money - that could have been trimmed or cut out entirely, and I don't think anybody would have noticed the difference. But as it stands, it might be a good sequel, but it just isn't all that great of a movie. At least the cast is entertaining, because without them, I don't know if I'd have made it. I guess I'll give it two and a half stars, and a recommendation only to people who absolutely loved the first movie. And to those of you who do see it, make sure to stay all the way through the closing credits.
I might not have been to the theater in nearly three months, but with the summer blockbuster season starting next week with Iron Man, I'm sure I'll be there more often.
I really liked Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle, so I naturally assumed I'd enjoy the sequel as well. But the truth of the matter is that I'm on the fence about it. There's some funny parts, and Neil Patrick Harris's extended cameo is awesome, but other than that, the movie is adequate at best.
A lot of people noted a quite subtle social commentary about race relations in the original Harold & Kumar movie. And in Escape From Guantanamo Bay, they ditch the subtlety and practically beat you over the head with the comedic social commentary. The main antagonist in the movie is both incredibly racist and stupid as all hell, and they practically come out and say that the doofuses running the country are making every other American look bad. Like I said when I spoke about The Tripper, I'm not really into movies that wear the political snark right out there on their sleeve. I guess I'm saying that I appreciate subtlety more. Admittedly, some of the humor does work, but the rest? Meh. Seriously, did we really need the cheesy cameo by a George W. Bush facsimile, or the cheap deus ex machina that results from said cheesy cameo?
Ultimately, the handful of truly entertaining moments weren't enough to sustain it for a two-hour running length. Had they trimmed the fat and cut the movie down to about 90 or 95 minutes, then the movie probably would have been better. There were a few scenes - Harold and Kumar encountering the inbred son of an affluent redneck couple, then a group of Klansmen led by Christopher Meloni from Law & Order: SVU; the movie's primary antagonist interrogating Harold and Kumar's Jewish friends by taunting them with a pouch full of money - that could have been trimmed or cut out entirely, and I don't think anybody would have noticed the difference. But as it stands, it might be a good sequel, but it just isn't all that great of a movie. At least the cast is entertaining, because without them, I don't know if I'd have made it. I guess I'll give it two and a half stars, and a recommendation only to people who absolutely loved the first movie. And to those of you who do see it, make sure to stay all the way through the closing credits.
I might not have been to the theater in nearly three months, but with the summer blockbuster season starting next week with Iron Man, I'm sure I'll be there more often.
posted by Matt Sutton at
9:38 PM
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